As Many as Six Whales May Be Swimming in Boston Harbor Right Now

Multiple sightings (including a humpback breaching just offshore) have been reported since Friday.

By
Marisa Spyker

It’s not every day you get treated to a spectacular city skyline vista coupled with a glimpse of a whale breaching in one blink — unless you’ve been sailing in Boston Harbor recently.

According to the Boston Globe, several whales have been spotted in and around the harbor, including one that breached offshore in the company of a boat operator with the state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation, who caught the whole thing on camera.

The sightings began when a couple of local fishermen caught video of a pair of whales feeding within the harbor. That was followed by a Twitter photo from Boston Harbor Cruises, which normally takes guests out to a marine sanctuary to spot whales.

Have you heard the news? There's a humpback whale in Boston Harbor! With recreational boats & shipping vessels, Head Naturalist Laura Howes is hopeful that it will return to safer waters soon. Its location has been reported to both the @uscoastguard & the @NEAQ rescue team. pic.twitter.com/YA7ujo43Cq

Sheila Green, a spokesperson for Boston Harbor Cruises, told the Boston Globe that naturalists from the company have identified five to six individual whales in the harbor area, most spotted around the Boston Light. That amount of whales within the harbor is a rarity, said Green.

“It does happen,” she says. “But to have so many in the Inner Harbor is really quite unusual.”

While the sightings are certainly a treat for sailors (and a good sign that the harbor is clean, says Green), naturalists are hoping the whale pack ventures back into open water soon. Until then, the U.S. Coast Guard in Boston is sending out alerts to all boat operators reminding them to travel with caution.